


Our First Valentine's

by L3writing



Series: Meredith&Cormac [4]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:29:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L3writing/pseuds/L3writing
Summary: A series of small stories from Meredith & Cormac's first Valentine's day as a couple.  Part of my Meredith Grey/Cormac Hayes UniverseRated Mature for later ChaptersStory Prompt: from wattpad’s Valentine’s story ideaMuse A and Muse B don’t have plans for a traditionally romantic Valentine’s Day this year.  They thought it’d be nice to stay home and spend quality time with their loved ones instead.  Muse A and Muse B make a whole day about family togetherness, sharing poorly-made homemade cards, playing games with valentine’s chocolates that no one will eat, and finding cute little ways to make one another feel appreciated.
Relationships: Atticus Lincoln/Amelia Shepherd, Meredith Grey/Cormac Hayes, Miranda Bailey/Ben Warren
Series: Meredith&Cormac [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075478
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Valentine's Biscuits (Ellis & Dr 'Mac)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cormac makes cookies with Ellis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first few chapters are General/Teen rated, with the later chapters turning to mature.

“Mommy, can we make heart shaped cookies for school,” Ellis asks as Meredith and Cormac are prepping dinner.

“Sure,” Meredith says tentatively, knowing baking is still something she struggles with. 

“El, do you want me to help you?” Cormac offers. He knows Meredith still isn’t confident in the kitchen and he was taught to bake by both his mom and grandmothers.

“Can we make hearts?” Ellis asks.

“Yes, El. Mer, do you have cookie cutters? What about food colouring? Icing sugar? Butter?” he asks, not knowing what she has at her house for baking. He knows she has flour, baking powder, vanilla and sugar as he has made waffles and pancakes here.

“Ummm,” she responds.

“Can you check with Maggie or Zola?” he asks, grabbing a kiss from her, sending her off to look for supplies. Turning back to his helper, he asks, “El, how many do we need?” 

“Twenty,” she answers, pulling the stool up to the counter so she can help.

“Let’s get the biscuits made. We will send your mom out for a cookie cutter if she can’t find one,” he says, pulling out the mixer and pulling out the ingredients. He’s thankful his mom put a number of family recipes online for him when he moved to Switzerland. He knows the sugar cookie recipe is there, he’s made it often for his boys.

“Dr ’Mac, I don’t want biscuits. I want cookies,” Ellis complains.

“Sorry Ellie, in Ireland, we call cookies ‘biscuits’,” he answers.

“Oh,” she answers, her smile returning to her face. Ellis and Cormac dig in and get started with his grandmother’s tea biscuit recipe. He loves baking and loves having a helper. It reminds him of the hours he spent through the years with his mom and both his grandmothers. 

Meredith walks back into the kitchen with Zola who quickly finds the basket of cookie cutters and food colouring. “Here you go, Mom!” she says.

“Thanks, ZoZo. Where is the icing sugar?” Meredith asks.

“Beside the regular sugar,” Zola answers with a little attitude before running away. Meredith rolls her eyes at her oldest and to Cormac she says, “I don’t know if I’ll survive her teen years.”

“You’ll survive,” he replies to her, as he continues chatting with Ellis sharing all the secrets to baking amazing biscuits. Meredith returns to setting the table for dinner. It was just her kids with them tonight.

“Can we make hearts now?” Ellis asks Cormac now that the dough is mixed.

“No, sweetie, we must put it in the fridge for a bit. How about we eat our dinner and then make hearts?” 

“Guess so,” she says.

“Want to get everyone to the table? Dinner’s in the oven,” he says.

“Zozo, Bay, dinner is ready,” she yells barely having left the kitchen. 

Cormac places the dough in the fridge and captures his valentine, giving her a quick kiss before the kids come back into the kitchen.

After dinner, Cormac and Ellis roll out the dough, cut out hearts, make pink icing and are icing the hearts when Maggie arrives home. “Awe, isn’t this lovely,” she whispers to Meredith.

“It's wonderful! Ellie gets to make cookies and go to bed on time!” Meredith replies to Maggie.

“And we don’t have your attempt at baking,” Maggie teases.

“Love you too sis,” Meredith replies.

“Thanks, Dr ’Mac. I love baking with you,” Ellis says, throwing her arms around him for a big thank you hug.

“That was fun! Thank you for letting me help you. Now, bath time,” he says, encouraging her to head upstairs heading to his girlfriend and wrapping her in his arms. 

“Thank you! I’m glad you were here tonight,” she says before capturing his lips and sliding her arms around his neck trapping him.

“Not a problem. But I have to pick up my lads,” he replies. 

“See you at work tomorrow?” she asks.

“8am at the coffee cart?” he confirms.

“Hopefully. I’ll text you if I can’t make it,” she replies knowing she’s covering the pit first thing. She is pulled in for one more kiss before they reluctantly let go of one another.


	2. Valentine's Hearts (Zola & Bailey)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bailey draws realistic hearts, while Zola complains about not having pink paper for Valentine's crafts.

“Mom, do you have any pink paper?” Zola asks. 

“No,” Meredith replies. The craft supplies are generally used by Maggie and Amelia, definitely not her strong suit.

“I need pink paper! My Valentine's need pink! But I don’t have any.”

“Where is the paper stored?” Meredith asks as she tries to finish making quesadillas.

“But there isn’t any pink in here,” Zola whines.

“Then we probably don’t have any. Text Auntie Amy and ask her to stop on her way home,” Meredith says as she finishes prepping the veggies for dinner. She places two more soft cooked apple pieces on the tray for Scout.

“But mom,” Zola continues.

“Either text your aunt, or head to bed,” Meredith states, done with the whining.

“Here’s more apple, cutie,” she says to Scout. He giggles and smiles and is very happy with his pre-dinner snack. 

“Bailey, can you put your homework away so we can have dinner?” Meredith asks.

“Yes mom,” he answers.

“Are you finished?” she asks.

“I have to finish drawing the body, I haven’t labelled all the organs. Can I do that after dinner?” he asks.

“Definitely,” she says, wiping down the table and bringing the plates to the table. 

After the first round of dinner was finished, dishes loaded into the dishwasher, Meredith pops the next set of quesadillas in the oven for Amelia, Maggie and Link who would be home within moments. 

* * *

“Mom, can I work at the table again?” Bailey asks, looking at his aunts and Link sitting at the table.

“I’m sure they won’t mind, why don’t you ask them. I’m taking Scout upstairs for a bath,” Meredith says. Meredith barely hears Bailey as he runs off to the kitchen and hears Link chatting with her son. Meredith finishes bathing Scout, slipping him into a pair of red Valentine’s PJs that say “My First Valentine’s ~ Kiss Me” on them before taking him downstairs to his parents. 

Zola comes racing downstairs saying, “Auntie Maggie! Auntie Amy! Did you grab pink paper?”

“Yes Zola, we stopped on our way home,” Maggie answers.

“Thank you. Mom wasn’t helpful,” Zola answers.

“What did mom say?” Maggie asks.

“She told me to look in the paper drawer,” Zola grumbles.

“Your mom was making dinner, feeding Scout, and helping Bailey. You know where the paper is, so why are you angry with her,” Maggie replies.

“She should know I need pink paper, it’s Valentine’s Day,” Zola continues.

“Zola, you need to ask in advance if you need special supplies. Let’s go work in the playroom,” Maggie says, taking the craft supplies off to the table in the playroom. Maggie works with Zola on her Valentine’s cards and chats with her niece reminding her to use her nice voice. 

Meredith walks past Maggie dealing with her oldest. She does the best with Zola’s current attitude and is often able to turn around her moods. Walking into the kitchen as soon as Scout sees Amelia, he yells, “Ma-ma! Ma-Ma!” 

“I think this one is yours!” Meredith says handing Scout to Amelia.

“Is that new pajamas?” Link asks.

“Yes,” Meredith replies, heading to stand behind Bailey to look at his homework.

“They are amazing. Thanks Mer,” Amelia says.

“Thanks for bringing him home early today,” Link adds.

“We had fun. We went pajama shopping, picked up the groceries, and then got the older three from school. Since it wasn’t raining we played at the park. He loved the swing. Once home I made dinner while he ate apples, and then we sat down for dinner. He had his bath while you ate,” Meredith describes.

“And this was your afternoon off?” Link jokes.

“All in the life of a parent. You’ve done your share with all four of them,” she returns. 

“Wow, Bailey! Amazing drawing,” she says. Although only in grade 2 Bailey loves drawing realistic representations of the organs in humans and has drawn a human heart in the middle of his homework.

“That is what a heart looks like. I don’t do pink hearts like for Valentine’s,” he complains.

“I think that’s perfect, kiddo,” Link says looking at Bailey’s detailed drawings in his science homework package. 


	3. Date Night for Some (Meredith & Cormac babysit)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben & Bailey, Link & Amelia get the night out without their kids, while Meredith and Cormac babysit the night before Valentine's day

**Feb 13, 2021**

Meredith’s house was extra busy this Saturday. The next day was Valentine’s Day so they were providing child minding tonight. Scout, Tuck and Joey would be added to their five. So tonight there would be eight kids for dinner! 

With her kids getting older and Cormac’s teenagers at her house more often, it was decided to reclaim the nearly empty basement and make it into a usable space. The basement was finally emptied and thanks to a contractor a new bathroom was installed, proper utility room, a storage room, and heated sub flooring. The contractor accepted the delivery of the new area rugs, couches, end tables and wall cabinets and he assembled and installed all the required IKEA furniture. Today the goal was to get the TV and game system setup. 

“Meredith, this looks amazing,” Liam says arriving downstairs with the game system from the living room. Cormac was studying the instructions for the TV wall mount system. He’d picked up the new large screen TV on his way over with his boys, after first swinging by and switching vehicles as her SUV was much more suited to moving a TV than his Tesla.

“Thanks, Liam. And there’s a new bathroom behind the stairs. Can you grab the bags of towels and bathroom stuff from your dad’s car?” she replies, sending him on his next task.

“Sure. Austin, please get the games and stuff from upstairs,” he says. It didn’t take long for the four of them to get the basement setup, the bar fridge stocked with pop and the snacks for the evening loaded onto the counter across the back of the room.

* * *

“Can we make cookies?” Zola asks Cormac after Amelia returns with the four kids from the park. 

“Sure what about Irish Lace Biscuits?” he says.

“What about chocolate cookies?” Zola says.

“How about both?” Ellis pipes up.

“OK. If we start with the Lace Biscuits we won’t need to wash the mixer before starting the chocolate ones,” he suggests.

“Smart! Zola’s favourite recipe is beside the cocoa. Maybe I’ll take Bailey outside to play soccer,” Meredith says.

“Oh, I want to play football,” Cormac teases.

“You won’t like the cookie mess if I try and bake,” she replies.

“That is true, you stay away from the kitchen!” he says kissing her.

* * *

Dinner with all eight kids went well. Maggie had put on a beef roast in the crock pot for mexican beef before she headed into the hospital for her on-call shift. When Joey and Tuck were dropped off, Ben had them bring in a pot of refried beans using Travis’ recipe that everyone at the firehall loved. They all loved the build it yourself tacos and salad. 

Joey and Liam were awesome helping with the younger kids, taking them all outside while Scout napped and Cormac and Meredith prepped dinner. As typical it was difficult to remove Tuck and Austin from the gaming system, but somehow the older brothers managed. 

Before they got the home baked cookies for dessert, Meredith brought out nine boxes of mystery Valentine’s Chocolates, as 10 month old Scout wouldn’t be trying the chocolates. Each box contained 10 small flavoured chocolates with the goal to guess, the flavour. They were mostly milk chocolates, but also some white and dark chocolate. They had to use hints, like the shape, colour and toppings to figure out the flavour and if they’d like the chocolates. The round one is the cherry, the one with pink icing is the strawberry, the one with an almond on top is almond flavoured, etc. They did pretty well with their guesses, but didn’t figure out the difference between the coffee bean and rum one. None of the kids liked the rum flavoured dark chocolate, with Ellis refusing to touch anything other than the fruit flavoured chocolates. The mystery chocolates was a fun activity with all the kids, Meredith was so glad she and Scout had found it while they were out shopping earlier in the week. Finding activities that kids from Kindergarten to Grade 12 would all enjoy was difficult. Liam was great sitting beside Ellis during the chocolate tasting, and he lucked out as he got most of the chocolates she wouldn’t try, and even traded his strawberry chocolate for the salted caramel.

After dinner, dessert and dishes, Cormac loaded the four teens into the car as they refused to watch Lady and the Tramp with Meredith’s kids. They had managed one short kiss before he had to catch up to the teenagers.

Once he got home he called Meredith and said, “Wish I could have stayed tonight.”

“Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says.

“And mark Feb 19th on your calendar. Keep it free,” he says.

“What do you have planned?” she asks.

“Bailey and Ben have my lads. Maggie, Amelia and Link have your kids. So you, me and my empty townhouse,” he replies.

“Ohhhh,” she says.


	4. Valentine's Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentine's morning starts early for some, and finished with family breakfasts...

**Ben & Miranda’s house**

Ben has set alarm early as his shift starts this morning. Station 19 A shift begins today at 7:30 so he sets it so he can hopefully wake his wife with kisses before heading to the Station for his 24 hour shift. He hates that he isn’t home today for Valentine’s Day, but was glad that Cormac had volunteered to watch their boys so they could have a quiet, intimate evening at home. He’d prepared a special dinner for two and they ate in front of the fireplace, then stretched out on the floor in front of the fire enjoying one another. At midnight, Miranda had woken and suggested they sleep in the bed, knowing it would be so much more comfortable than the floor. 

When his alarm sounds, he quickly silences it and rolls over to kiss his wife. He wakes by trailing kissing around her breasts while his hand reaches between her legs, loving that they’d slept naked without the teenaged boys at home. He wishes he could stay and cuddle, but knows he must get up not long after another amazing orgasim. He has his shower, dresses in his uniform and pulls out his pre-written Valentine’s note and bubble bath for his wife.

Miranda falls back asleep, sated, exhausted, knowing she has plenty of time before she needs to rescue her teens from Cormac’s house. When she finally rolls awake it's 10am, she checks her phone and she just has one message from Ben saying he got to work. She looks on her bedside table and there is a note saying, “Enjoy a bubble bath before you pick up the boys. Love you. Ben”

She thinks that is a great idea, but first decides to ensure the living room and kitchen were cleaned up from their activities the night before. Seeing that Ben has already cleaned both areas, she flips the laundry and heads to enjoy her bath. 

Before slipping into the tub, she sends Ben a text, “Thanks for tidying up. And love the strawberry bubbles. You are amazing.”

After finishing some more laundry, having a quiet coffee and croissant, Miranda decides she should get dressed and head to pickup her boys.

**Amelia & Link’s hotel room**

Amelia rolls over, realizing her breasts are hard and sore, so she quickly and quietly slips out of the bed so she can pump. Link had remembered to bring her pump when they were packing up, knowing that she would need to pump in the morning. One morning when she’d unexpectedly been called into work to help with a number of emergency craniotomies from a car accident, she’d called him at 4am crying that her breasts were so sore. At Link’s suggestion she’d headed up to the maternity floor. The head overnight nurse took one look at her and discreetly led her into the pumping room and set her up with the double pump. 

Once Amelia pumped, she placed the full bottles into the fridge, slipped into the bathroom and then back into bed, snuggling with her partner.

“Mm-mmm, you smell like milk. You OK?” he asks, nuzzling close to her.

“Thanks for packing the pump. I feel much better,” she replies.

“Are you ready to go back to sleep, or do you need some activity before sleeping,” he wonders aloud.

“Hm-mmm…” she moans as she feels his hand slip between her legs.

It is a few hours later when they finally hit the shower and enjoy the amazing hotel shower with endless hot water, then head downstairs to breakfast before heading home.

**Meredith’s house**

Meredith woke early hearing Scout on the baby monitor. “Infants,” she moans to herself as she rolls out of bed and heads down the hall to grab him from his crib and changes his diaper. Scout tries to nuzzle in looking for his normal morning source of milk, so his aunt quickly turns him around so he is facing away from her chest and whispers in his ear, “Sorry sweetie, Auntie Mer can’t help you there. We’ll get your bottle.”

Quietly she takes him downstairs, grabs him a bottle of breastmilk from the fridge and takes him to the couch. She hopes she can keep her three sleeping, so she can doze while Scout has his first feed of the day. He will sometimes go back to sleep, but not always, and she’s hoping that since she has all four kids, he’ll sleep and so will hers.

About 7:30 she hears footsteps quietly sneaking down the stairs and some whispering. She thinks that it must be Zola and Ellis, Bailey can’t be that quiet unless he’s sitting drawing. To her kids she quietly says, “Scouts asleep here. Morning, happy Valentine’s.”

“Morning mom,” Zola says quietly. “Mommy, its Valentines!” says Ellis a little louder.

“Shhh… Auntie Maggie is on her way home and will cook waffles for breakfast. If you want a pre-breakfast snack, please have fruit. Any chance you can make me a coffee?”

“I can do that,” Zola says.

“ZoZo, can you open a banana for me?” Ellis asks.

“Let’s go,” Zola says as they scamper into the kitchen. She purchased a keurig just for mornings like this when she needs a cup of coffee quickly. Zola and Bailey can make her coffee unassisted, as long as the cream container in the fridge isn’t too full.

**Cormac’s house**

Cormac texts Meredith with a corny Valentine’s Day message and heads out a run. It’s early, but he knows the four teenagers won’t be up before 10. They had been playing video games until after 2am. 

Instead of heading to the lake this morning, he jogs to the florist, picking up a single lavender coloured rose and then heads to Meredith’s house. Once at her house he knocks gently before unlocking the door and slipping inside. He is quickly met by Ellis, “Dr ’Mac, it’s Valentine's Day! Auntie Maggie is making strawberry waffles” 

“Aren’t you lucky. I think you are a strawberry monster. Now where is your mommy?” he teases, pulling her up and into his arms.

“She’s changing Scout. Did you bring her a flower? Purple is her favourite colour,” Ellis whispers in his ear.

“I did. Let’s go into the kitchen so I can grab some water,” he says, walking towards the kitchen and setting her on the bar stool.

“Morning, Hayes,” Maggie says from behind the waffle maker.

“Morning, how was the night shift?” he replies, grabbing a glass and filling it with water.

“Not too bad, I got some sleep. Now it's breakfast time. Are you staying?” she says.

“No, I’m on my morning run, just stopped by for a minute. I have four teenage boys to feed.”

“Mer’s changing Scout and waking Bailey. Four? Did they multiply?”

“I have Ben and Bailey’s two. Gave them a night to themselves,” he says as he feels an arm sneak around his waist and turns to place a kiss on her cheek but finds Scout and ends up kissing him forgetting she might have him in her arms.

“Just let me put him down. I wasn’t expecting you to stop by this morning,” she says.

“I needed a kiss from my girl,” he whispers in her ear once Scout is placed in his highchair and he wraps her securely in the circle of his arms. 

“This is a great surprise. And a beautiful rose. My favourite colour,” she says.

“Ellie saw it and knew it was for you because of its colour,” he replies.

“Smart kid. Guessing yours aren’t up yet?”

“Too early for them, but I should get back and feed them breakfast,” he comments. And then quietly intended just for her, “I’m so glad we’ve found one another.”

“Me, too,” she says, leading him to the front door for a little privacy.

Cormac finishes his run, showers and heads into his kitchen, first making himself a pot of tea. Then starts breakfast, Irish soda bread, scrambled eggs, sausage and hashbrowns. The smells of the food cooking brings the teenagers slowly to the kitchen.

“Wow! This smells great dad,” Liam says.

“Smells wonderful, Dr Hayes,” Joey adds.

“Thanks, can you two set the table? I have tea in the teapot. If you want coffee, you’ll need to put the pot on,” he says.

“Joey, do you drink tea? Coffee? Hot Chocolate?” Liam says, pouring himself a tea.

“A hot chocolate would be great. Ben doesn’t like us having coffee,” he says and Liam shows him the Keurig and hands him a mug.

“I’m going to get the other two. Breakfast is ready to be put on the table,” Cormac says leaving the kitchen. Getting the other two up takes a little bit. He rarely lets his boys sleep in, but it was nice not to have to race them out of the house this morning. 

It was nearly noon when Miranda arrives and picks up her two boys. "Thank you Dr Hayes. It was a great night without worrying about them," she says.

"They weren't a problem. They all played soccer before dinner, tested the new games room at Meredith's and then played games here too," he replies.

"And we'll take your two on Friday?" she confirms.

"Thanks," he says. 


	5. Valentine's Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The afternoon/evening with the Grey-Shepherd and Hayes families.

**Meredith’s house**

After breakfast, Meredith sets her kids up to do their homework while Scout has his morning nap. Meredith and Maggie trade off time for their personal morning self care and doing household chores. The laundry progresses, the dishes are done, the grocery list has been updated, the kids homework is completed, and Scout is still napping. 

“Not bad for a Valentine’s Day,” Meredith says to Maggie as they sit down with a cup of tea.

“Hey you got a kiss from your guy,” Maggie teases.

“Mine doesn’t live on the other side of the continent,” she retorts, referring to Winston who is still living and working in Boston. 

“True. But we haven’t figured out if it's worth moving together. And where would we go? I don’t want to move back to Boston and he doesn’t want to leave his grandmother,” Maggie complains.

“You’ll work it out. Just go to the same conferences,” Meredith suggests.

“Great idea. That was how we met again,” she replies, thinking to the conference that she and Winston missed so much as they were in his hotel room.

Scout woke minutes before Amelia and Link arrived home, like a sixth sense. “Amy, look who just woke from his nap,” Meredith says.

“Ma-Ma! Ma-Ma!” Scout yells as Amelia walks into the room, as he bounces on the couch beside Meredith.

“How about Da-Da! Say hi to daddy too?” Link says feeling left out. Scout had recently learned Ma-Ma and hadn’t progressed beyond identifying his mom. 

“Were you a good boy for Auntie Mer? I missed you,” she asks her son, picking him up, and handing the small cooler to Meredith.

“He was great. Woke early this morning, but we cuddled on the couch with his bottle and he went back to sleep. This for the fridge? Or freezer” Meredith says looking at the cooler she was just handed.

“I have a long day at work tomorrow, so probably best in the fridge. Thanks. Did he have a recent bottle?” Amelia says settling down on the couch with her son who was quickly looking for access to his milk.

“No, I figured you’d be home soon, and he prefers you,” Maggie says.

“Yes Momma’s boy,” Link says coming into the living room with 3 small gifts for the women in the living room. 

“What have you got there?” Meredith says looking at the small pink boxes in Link’s hands.

“I have a special gift for each of you, but these are for the kids. Through some miraculous scheduling, you three have this afternoon off, so I booked you each a Massage, Manicure and Pedicure at the Spa.”

“Thanks, Link. You didn’t need too,” Meredith says.

“You three do so much, I thought you needed a little sister time. And some pampering,” he says.

“Wow! What will you do?” Maggie asks.

“Take the kids to the park, and then make dinner.”

**Cormac’s House**

“Dad, we need to leave,” Liam says standing at the front door. He has a small bouquet of roses for his date. 

“I’m ready. You’ll make your way home after?” Cormac confirms.

“Yes dad. Or I’ll call for a ride,” Liam says.

“And you have everything you need? Just in case?” 

“Dad! Really, we aren’t planning anything… Should I be asking you if you carry protection?” Liam says, rolling his eyes at his dad.

“Do you want me to show you my wallet? Because I do have a condom in my wallet,” he replies.

“I believe you. We haven’t done anything,” Liam says. Cormac drops the subject but suspects if Liam and Amahle haven’t gone all the way, they have gotten very close. He’d had the safe sex, the be responsible and all other talks with his sons, so just hoped some common sense prevailed.

**Meredith’s house**

After dropping Liam off at Amahle’s house for their date, Cormac decides to swing by Meredith’s house and drop off another gift he has for her. For tonight he has a small self care package with a bath bomb, candle and a playlist of some of his favourite Irish songs. As he drives past the park he notices Link and the four kids walking home, so when he parks, he walks back towards them. Ellis runs towards him and is once again jumping into his arms.

“Hey El.”

“We were at the park with Uncle Link,” Ellis tells him.

“Mom’s not at home, she’s out doing girly things with Auntie Amy and Auntie Maggie,” Bailey says.

“Girly things?” Cormac asks.

“I sent them to the Spa for a massage, manicure and pedicure. We were just headed home for snack time and then a movie, or nap,” Link says, catching up to them. 

“Want help?” he asks.

“Sure. Can you do the snack? Then I can feed Scout. I so rarely get to give him a bottle.”

“Definitely. Any requests?” he says to the kids.

“Cucumber and hummus,” Ellis says.

“And those Lace Biscuits,” Bailey says.

“Apples?” Zola adds.

“Sounds good, we’ll cut up some apples, cucumbers, carrots and get out the hummus and biscuits? Wash your hands and I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” he says to Meredith’s three kids. Snacks are quickly plated, and consumed. They clean up the kitchen mess, the kids head downstairs to watch a movie and he heads back to the living room. “Want anything to drink?” he says to Link.

“Want a beer? I should’ve been the one offering, I kinda live here,” he replies joking.

“No problem, you have a little one there. I can grab a couple from the fridge. Pale Ale ok?” Cormac asks.

“Sounds good. Thanks,” he says. The guys sit and chat while Scout drifts off to sleep. Link explains that he and Amelia are looking for a house in the neighbourhood, thinking they should move out soon. They are struggling to find one that is move-in ready, and might need to undertake some substantial renovations if they want to be within a few blocks of Meredith. 

“Guess I should put this one down for his nap, and make dinner,” Link says.

“You went all out for Valentine’s. Dinner & hotel last night and then sending the sisters out together, and cooking a family dinner. Amazing,” Cormac says, amazed at the changes he’d seen in Link since Scout was born.

“Meredith and Maggie are great. They have been wonderful this year. And well, Amelia is my love,” Link says trying to downplay everything as he lays Scout down in the playpen.

“They have an amazing relationship,” Cormac says.

“It’s amazing. Especially when you think of their past,” Link says. He knew Cormac had slowly learnt the history of Meredith and Amelia’s family as well as Meredith and Maggie’s introduction. 

“I think they are closer than many sisters that grew up together,” Cormac says.

“I think so. But I’m an only child,” Link says.

“I just have two brothers,” Cormac replies.

“Are you staying for dinner?” Link asks as he pulls the chicken from the fridge.

“Austin is home alone, so I should go make dinner for him. Liam is on a date,” Cormac says.

“Why don’t you go pickup Austin and come back for dinner? I’m making chicken, rice, steamed cauliflower broccoli and cut veggies. I can easily add extras.”

“You don’t mind?” Cormac asks.

“Of course not, it’s family dinner. We often have random extras. If it wasn’t Valentine’s day, I’m sure we’d have a few extras popping over. Jo often comes over, but she volunteered to work today. Not into the whole Valentine’s and love thing right now. Jackson and Harriet often come over too,” Link explains.

“Can I bring anything back?” Cormac asks.

“Something for dessert? They inhaled the cookies you made yesterday.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be back in under an hour.” Cormac texted both Liam and Austin letting them know the change in plans and zipped home to pick up Austin. 

He was in the kitchen helping Link prepare the salad and veggie platter when the three sisters arrived home. 

* * *

After dinner Austin, Bailey, Link and Cormac headed outside while Maggie supervised baths for the girls and braided Zola’s hair. There was no sense braiding Ellis’ fine blond hair as it wouldn’t stay in a braid overnight. Amelia sat in the kitchen watching Link play soccer, so totally in his element. 

“So you got dinner with Cormac tonight…,” Amelia remarks to Meredith.

“Your partner invited him. Link was wonderful. That was a great afternoon, and then everyone to dinner,” Meredith replies as she finishes washing the dishes.

“He totally surprised me with the afternoon out. We should do that more often,” Amelia says. 

“Like we’ll find the time,” Meredith says.

“We’ll have to make the time. Just like your plans for Friday night,” she says.

“Those started a few weeks ago. My lingerie order arrived. And had an ob/gyn appointment,” Meredith says.

“Everything OK?”

“Just my annual, and she checked my IUD. It’ll need to be replaced next year.”

“I had one inserted after Scout was born. I don’t know why I took the pill for so long, this is so much easier,” Amelia replies.

“I agree. And hopefully no surprise pregnancies,” Meredith adds.

“I love Scout, but he was a shock. I’m going to get Scout ready for bed,” Amelia says seeing Cormac approach the backdoor.

“Goodnight Amelia,” Cormac says walking into the kitchen and pulling Meredith into his arms. She quickly kisses him, knowing he’d need to leave shortly. He hesitated slightly and looked outside.

“Let’s go into the living room, Austin won’t be able to see us there,” she suggests sliding off the stool and taking him into the living room.

“Thanks, he’s just not completely on board with me kissing anyone,” Cormac says.

“How many teenagers are into their parents making out? And then add that I’m not his mom, this is tough for him,” Meredith says understanding.

“But…,” he says, pulling her close.

“Ask Richard how I went off on him in my Intern year when I found out about his and my mom’s affair. And I was definitely no longer a teenager!” she says.

“That must be some story, but I don’t think I’ll ask him about that one,” he smirks dipping his head for a kiss.

“I could hand you mom’s journals. Many were just scientific, but some are quite graphic about her affair with RW,” she adds.

“Oh my!”

“That wasn’t the worst of it. But I’d rather kiss you than talk about them,” she says capturing his lips once again and reaching her arms up and caressing his neck and holding him close. His hand slips under her sweater finding bare skin, and one hand traces over the lace edge of her bra.

“Mm-mmm lace,” he whispers.

“But we need to stop, we’ll have an audience shortly,” she says, pulling away from him.

“Friday night is a long time away,” he grumbles.

“Don’t pout. It’ll be worth it. A whole night just the two of us,” she teases.

“That isn’t helping. But I have to grab Austin, and we are picking up Liam on our way. Hopefully he didn’t get more action than I did.”

“Good night,” she says, giving him one more kiss before separating and heading to the backyard to say goodbye to Austin and send Bailey for a bath.

  
  
  



	6. Bubbles & More (Mer & Cormac)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cormac decides to celebrate Valentine's for the whole week between Valentine's day and their first sleepover date. A series of small themed Valentine's gifts hoping his sweetheart takes time for herself - Sweet dreams and self care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience. Been struggling to get writing into my day. I don't know why. But back at it. Thanks for everyone who is looking and commenting on my work.

_Sunday_   
_Valentine's Day_

_"To be a good parent, you need to take care of yourself so that you can have the physical and emotional energy to take care of your family." -Michelle Obama_

Meredith settles her kids in bed, says goodnight to Maggie, Link and Amelia and heads upstairs to her room. She usually stays in the living room, but the past few days she'd barely gotten any downtime so thought it was a perfect way to start the week, with some time on her own. Sitting on her pillow she finds a small package, wrapped in pink tissue paper, with a note:

"Enjoy this special gift of bubbles, flickering light and Irish music. -C"

In the small gift is a lavender citrus bath bomb, a locally made soy wax scented candle, and a link to a playlist. Thinking to herself, she now knows what she is going to do with her time before bed. She slips into the bathroom, starts filling the tub, turns the lights down, lights a few candles, and selects the new playlist.

Once the tub is full, she snaps a picture and quickly sends it to Cormac. "Thanks for the gift. Time to enjoy some bubbles."

_Monday_

_"Don't take your health for granted. Don't take your body for granted. Do something today that communicates to your body that you desire to care for it. Tomorrow is not promised."-Jada Pinkett Smith_

Monday mornings at work can sometimes be super busy getting through any backlog of surgery from the weekend, and today would keep her team of general surgeons busy. This Monday, Maggie is responsible for getting her kids to school while she supervises morning rounds and needs to be at the hospital by 7am. She arrives and on her desk she finds another packet with a note:

"Some of your favourite healthy snacks that you always forget to buy yourself.  
How about a walk after work?-C"

Smiling to herself, she grabs one of the fruit bars and puts it in her lab coat while ensuring she has her pager, phone, stethoscope, penlight, pen and id badge. She starts the morning with rounds with her team of residents and interns for the week, sets out the patients for the day, reviews the OR schedules and decides she will treat herself and assign herself to the complicated peds case instead of leaving it to Dr Bailey or Dr Webber. She assigns a series of shorter, less complicated surgeries to Dr Webber and Dr DeLuca, the two proving to be an amazingly efficient team, while assigning Dr Bailey a routine but more complex tumour removal that had arrived over the weekend.

The peds surgery isn't booked until 10am so she races down to the coffee cart hoping to get to the coffees before Cormac arrives. As she walks up to the cart, she notices Cormac standing and ordering their coffees.

"I thought I could make it before you," she says.

"Not fast enough," he replies.

"Hey, I already rounded and dealt with the residents this morning," she replies.

"Busy day today?" he asks.

"Not too bad. We have surgery at 10," she confirms as they walk into the hospital.

"Good that gives me a bit to check in with everyone on the floor before meeting you in the OR. Gotta run," he says kissing her cheek before heading in the opposite direction from her.

Everything flows smoothly for a Monday and the four hour surgery with Cormac is successful. Leaving the scrub room she kisses Cormac quickly before heading to meet up with her next patient.

At 5pm, she looks up to see Cormac already changed into jeans and a striped dress shirt, leaning on the door frame as she sits finishing her paperwork. "Hey, you ready to head out for a walk?" he asks.

"Sure, but I need to change," she says putting down her work and tidying her desk. "You need to either step in or out and close the door!"

"Well… maybe we can skip the walk," he says with a smirk.

"Out! Not at work," she says, pulling her leggings and sweater out of her bag. She quickly changes, clips her pager on her waist band, and tosses her phone in her purse before turning off the light. They go out to their cars and separately drive to the waterfront for a quick walk. It is a lovely evening, a few puddles from the earlier rain, but for a February evening in Seattle, it is mild with a gentle breeze and no rain. They arrive back at their cars and he wraps his arms around her pulling her close, spending a few minutes together knowing they each need to head home to their kids for dinner.

_Tuesday_

_"Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can." -Louisa May Alcott_

Tuesday Meredith arrives at her office to find a gift on her desk. Opening the box she finds a novel series from Ireland and a cozy blanket. Cormac's mom had been talking about the books over Christmas. The rest of the day is super busy, but she does pass Cormac in the hallways and ER a few times. He joins her and her family for dinner before heading out to pick up his kids from soccer leaving her reading her new novel wrapped in the large fleece blanket on the couch.

_Wednesday_

_"To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life." -Jill Bolte Taylor_

Today's gift is sitting on her bed when she arrives home. She wonders how he managed to slip to her house to drop it off, or possibly he recruited one of the adults in her house. It is late, Wednesdays are always busy with kids' activities, and she finally manages to get all 3 kids home, fed, homework done, cleaned and to bed so she's planning on calling Cormac as she climbs into bed to unwrap her gift.

"Enjoy some quiet time after a busy day, you are worth it!  
Cozy pyjamas for when I can't be with you. -C"

Opening the gift bag she finds a box of sleepytime tea, a lavender scented eye mask, and a pair of super cozy pyjamas, and quickly calls him. They chat for a while before she's yawning and he suggests she turn out her light, put her head down and go to sleep.

"But I like talking to you," she says.

"You are staying here on Friday, only two more sleeps," he reminds her.

"But I miss cuddling with you," she says.

"We never get to cuddle on Wednesdays, and we are in surgery tomorrow so I'll see you there," he says.

"OK. I'll go to sleep. Goodnight," she yawns.

"Tá mo chroí istigh ionat, oíche mhaith mo anam chara" he whispers disconnecting the phone call.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Irish (Gaelic) translations
> 
> Tá mo chroí istigh ionat. ~ Literal Translation: My heart is within you. Meaning: Your heart is very dear to mine.
> 
> Oíche mhaith mo anam chara ~ Goodnight my soulmate
> 
> Once again thanks everyone for your support. Comments and likes are appreciated. This work has 3 more chapters.


	7. Taking Care (Mer & Cormac & Kids)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An emergency means that Cormac forgets to give Meredith one gift and alters their Friday morning plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delays on all my stories. Mainly due to writer's block and my schedule. The school schedule around here has very short days at school, and not everyone on the same schedule, so I’m doing lots more driving than normal…
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading, leaving comments and kudos.

_ Thursday _

_ “No one can ever take your memories from you – each day is a new beginning, make good memories every day.” – Catherine Pulsifer _

Thursday Meredith spent the day in consults, research, and teaching. She was about to leave when she was paged 9-1-1 to the ER as there were multiple incoming traumas. “What’s up?” She asks Owen walking into the pit.

“School bleachers collapsed at the middle school. Many injuries on their way in. I’ve already sent a resident and intern team out with Hayes. You will want to ensure you have childcare, if your nanny can’t stay, bring the kids in here,” he summarizes.

“Damn, give me 5 minutes to call the nanny,” she replies.

“No problem, Mom is picking mine up from our nanny,” he says.

“Lucky you. Can I use your office?” she replies.

“Go ahead,” he says, heading to organize the rest of the ER, ensuring those patients that could be transferred out were sent home, or to a bed.

About 10 pm she is paged to OR4 as she was updating a family, “A nurse will come get you when your son is transferred after recovery. Sorry I’ve got to go back to the OR for another kid.”

“Thank you so much Dr Grey,” says the worried father she was updating.

Jogging past the OR nurse’s station, the supervising nurse tells her to scrub in as they need extra hands. “Thanks, Wendy,” Meredith says, quickly slipping on booties and a new face mask. 

“What do you need?” Meredith says as the tech ties her gown and gloves her.

“Can we get your hands in here? There is too much damage to the left kidney, I think we should remove it,” Cormac says.

“Helm, move over,” Meredith says approaching the left side of the table. She quietly looks at the damage done in the area, and the clamps currently stopping the bleeding while listening to Dr Helm describe the injuries they have already fixed.

“I think I can re-sect it. I just need to see how deep this injury is,” Meredith says, thinking it would give their patient the best chance of full recovery. The three of them work quietly chatting about what their kids were doing and how the hospital daycare is amazing.

“Are you two OK? Looks like they need me in the ER,” he says after the nursing student reads out Cormac’s pager message.

“Yes we’ve got this,” Meredith says knowing that the pit was filled with kids the last time she was down there. After updating the family, checking on the patients in recovery and the ICU, she heads to the daycare to ensure her kids are asleep. Peeking in the window, she sees Ellis and Harriet curled up in their matching sleeping bags around their stuffed unicorns while Bailey and Zola are both sleeping in the cots on the other side of the room. Soon Zola will be too tall for the cots in the daycare, noticing her feet were off the end of the cot. Smiling she heads towards the pediatric ward and hopes that Cormac will be finished soon. 

Cormac finally makes it back to his office planning on collapsing on his couch and notices a sleeping Meredith where he plans to lay down. She looks so peaceful, but not entirely comfortable as she fell asleep sitting up. He grabs out an extra blanket off the shelf, sits at the other end of the couch and pulls her so she is resting on him. 

Thinking to himself that he’d love to take her to an on-call room so they could have a little more space, he knew that carrying her down the hall hunting for an open on-call room would be pointless. Not only is he afraid to drop her, but he also isn’t as young as he used to be. And at 4 am, there probably weren’t many beds left as so many had been called to extend their shifts. Enjoying the feeling of her settling down on his chest and her arms wrapping around him he lets himself drift off to sleep.

Her pager went off at 6:30 am waking them both up. “You made it back here,” she smiled pulling herself up for a kiss.

“Yes. Someone was sleeping on my couch… What’s the page?” he teased.

“Daycare, Ellie is upset,” she replies, getting up and reaching her hand out to him. He quickly stands and pulls her into a hug.

“You go get your kids, I’m headed home to get mine to school. See you later?” he says releasing her from the hug after placing a quick kiss on her hips.

“Yes sounds good,” she replies, heading quickly to the daycare.

He gathers his stuff up to head home and notices that he never managed to deliver his Thursday gift to her. So he slips into her office on the way out of the hospital and deposits both gifts on her desk.

* * *

_ Friday _

_ “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” --Mandy Hale _

“Mommy, you weren’t here,” Ellis cries running up to Meredith.

“Sorry, El. I worked really late, so left you sleeping with Harriet. You were cuddled together,” she replies picking her youngest up and squeezing her tight.

“But I missed you,” Ellis continues.

“I’m here. Should we get ZoZo and Bay, and get dressed and go for breakfast so you can go to school?” Meredith asks.

“Can we go for strawberry crepes?” Ellis asks looking hopefully at Meredith. There was a local crepe place not far from the hospital that Meredith often took the kids to if they slept over at the hospital.

“Sounds yummy. I love strawberries. How about you and I go to my office so I can get changed too? We can come back for your sleepy siblings.”

“Aye,” Ellis replies, cuddling deeper into Meredith’s shoulder. Grabbing her bag with a change of clothes, Meredith quickly talks to the daycare staff letting them know she’ll be back shortly. Meredith also texts Amelia wondering if she needs help with Scout.

“Mommy, you have two presents on your desk. Why? It’s not your birthday. Can I help you open them?”

Meredith allows Ellis to help her open the gifts while they change. The first gift is a new journal with a beautiful handmade wooden pen, with a note:

“A penny for your thoughts, --C PS Sorry I missed getting this to you yesterday”

The second gift is some lovely handmade soaps and bubblebath.

“Don’t forget to take time for you --C”

“Mommy, are these from Dr ’Mac? The soap smells pretty. I like bubbles,” Ellis asks.

“Yes, sweetie. And I know you like bubble bath. Maybe I’ll share this with you one day,” she says. 

“Yay! Why is Dr ’Mac leaving you gifts?” Ellis asks.

“He’s been giving me gifts every day since Valentine’s Day. Special gifts. Aren’t I lucky?”

“You’re the best!” Ellis beams.

“OK. Let’s go get ZoZo and Bay and head for breakfast,” Meredith says hoping the other two will be awake when she arrives back at the daycare. Daycare would usually have them ready as the kids arriving with their parents on dayshift would be starting to arrive. At breakfast, Meredith reminds her three that she would be out that evening and they would be staying with Auntie Amy and Link. Bailey replies with, “Yay! Maybe Link will take us for donuts!”

“Oh Bay, I think after last time and you guys not going to sleep, you won’t get donuts tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning for a snack,” she replies laughing.

* * *

“Dad, we don’t need a babysitter,” Austin complains. 

“No you don’t, but you are going to Tuck’s tonight for a sleepover,” Cormac says to his youngest. Having to pull an allnighter at the hospital had put him behind in his plans, and still needed to get back to the hospital as the peds ward was a mess because of the influx of patients the previous evening. He’s trying to get everything organized for tonight, Meredith was staying over, without any kids in the house. It was a week after Valentine’s but planning and arranging everything with all the kids was tough. 

“But Dad, I don’t understand why we need to sleepover. Can’t you pick us up?” he asks.

“Dad probably wants the house empty so Meredith can stay over. Remember last week for Valentine’s day they stayed with us? Dr Bailey and Ben got an evening without kids,” Liam says coming into the kitchen. Cormac feels himself turning pink with embarrassment at Liam’s comments.

“Ewww,” Austin says, realizing why they are staying at Tuck’s.

Clearing his throat, Cormac says, “Tuck and Joey want you guys to stay over. Ben has the night off and is taking you all Axe Throwing with a few of the firefighters. Now get your overnight bag packed and I’ll drop them off with Dr Bailey at work.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the Kudos and Comments.


End file.
